


Losing has a relative meaning.

by nupoxsi



Category: Football RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Wives No Kids, Awards Presentation, Enemy Lovers, Flirting, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-30
Updated: 2012-08-30
Packaged: 2017-11-13 05:06:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,471
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/499818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nupoxsi/pseuds/nupoxsi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Leo doesn't take the award with him that night, but that doesn't mean he lost. Set during the 11/12 UEFA’s "Best Player" Award ceremony.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Losing has a relative meaning.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this for a friend. And uh, it doesn't actually follow the exact evens of that evening. Inspired by [this picture.](http://tinyurl.com/9au8gtj)
> 
> Hope you guys like it :)

On his way to Monaco, Leo had been imagining different scenarios on his head, trying to figure out what he should say to Cristiano once he saw him there. They had seen each other on the day before the ceremony, but none of them had actually spoken a word towards the other one at the end of the match. Real Madrid won. He had scored and Cristiano too, but Madrid won, and that was all that mattered to the press and world.

Leo was proud of his performance, though, his goal had been amazing. He couldn't really blame anyone for what happened, there were some mistakes, but they'd face those mistakes as a team and not as individuals. If someone needed to change, their teammates would change as well. They would find the right way to place and get back the spark that made team the best team in the world. Leo was certain all of them was going to try hard to fix any mistake.

 

As soon as Leo landed and the stewardess assured him it was safe to turn on any electronic devices, Leo turned on his cellphone to found out he had a message.

 

> c u tonight, loser ;)

> \- Cristiano

All Leo could do was smile and whisper " _boludo_ " at his phone.

 

 

* * *

 

 

They found each other on the hallway that led to one of the large rooms, if Leo was right, was the one they were using to make the draw for the Champions League. Cristiano was stunning, his hair didn't have any gel, which was weird yet very pleasant to look at. The shirt he was wearing was gray, and it matched the dark jeans he had. If Leo could admit it out loud, he'd let Cristiano now how much he appreciated the way he dressed.

 

Taking one step closer Leo was the one who broke the silence.

 

"Hi," he said, gripping Cristiano's upper arm and not allowing him to keep walking. He relaxed his grasp a little when he noticed Cristiano's intentions weren't to walk away.

"Hello," Cristiano replied, showing his white teeth to the shorter man.

"So uh." Leo realised that he was still gripping his arm, so he let go of him. "Should we speak?"

"About how we kicked your little ass yesterday?" His smile grew wider. "Or about how I am going to kick your ass today?"

He wanted to reply something along the lines of _'about the way you totally ignored me on the pitch yet here you messaged me earlier,'_ and _'about how you can act like an asshole and then flash a smile in my direction and make me forget how to kick a ball.'_ Instead, Leo said "oh, shut up." He rolled his eyes dramatically. Cristiano responded to his gesture with a soft cuckle, but Leo paid it no mind.  "Do you really are that confident you're gonna win?"

"I do." He put a hand on Leo's shoulders. "I scored a lot of goals, and  also, I won La Liga this season."

Leo lifted an eyebrow. "I wouldn't have that confidence if I were you." 

"Yes." He lifted his hand from Leo and gave him a friendly punch. "But you're not me."

 

Cristiano started to walk away from him, making his way to his destination, but Messi almost run and stood in between his way, not letting him pass. Again.

 

"Can you move, enano, so I can go where I am supposed to go?" Cristiano asked, making an exasperated gesture.

"I wanna make a bet," Leo teased. Cristiano's brows furrowed together, his lips curving into a playfull smile. "I wanna make a bet, 10€ that you won't be the winner tonight."

Cristiano laughed. "Are you sure?" 

"Yes."

Leo was sure of it, he looked into Cristiano's eyes and swore he could see a bit of mischief in them. He liked games, he liked teasing. Leo liked him.

"Well, if you're so sure I'm not going to win, let's bet something else." 

"I'm listening," Leo instantly replied, resting his back against the wall of the hallway.

"If I win, you will have to admit during a press conference that I was superior in the Supercopa-which, of course, I was." 

"Sure, man," Leo agreed. It wasn't a big deal, and if he was honest, Cristiano did a good match. Leo was never one those guys who had a big ego, and if Cristiano did win the award, it wouldn't hurt him one bit to say such words to the media. "And if you don't win?"

"Well..." he trailed off. Their eyes met and Cristiano narrowed his eyes, his thoughtful expression making Leo's heart race a bit. "You can choose whatever you want as your, uh, reward."

Leo's imagination grew in any possible way at that moment. "Okay," he didn't doubt to reply.

"Okay."

 

 

* * *

 

 

When they finally were about to announce the name of the winner, Lionel moved a little bit so he could be near Andrés when they showed the name to the whole world. They have been waiting for about 10 or maybe 15 minutes, answering questions about their careers, their teams, their teammates and other stuff. 

Cristiano and Messi were both trying to avoid being close or even looking at each other during the whole wait. But at certain moments you could see how Cristiano was smiling at himself thinking of Messi paying his debt.

 

The woman brought the trophy to stage, which was shaped as a jersey with the name of the winner in the back, the name of the best player of Europe 2011/2012. A moment later, the man stepped in and started to roll the trophy so everyone could see which name was in the back.

“Andrés Iniesta” the man finally said. And with that said, everyone started to clap, almost all the eyes were on Iniesta at that moment.

 

Almost.

 

If it weren’t because of Lionel Messi, we could say that all the attention was concentrated in the winner.

 

When the man announced his teammate name Leo felt utterly happy for him. Andrés deserved it, his season in Barcelona was incredible, the goals he scored with the team blew everyone's mind. And, winning the Euro also played an important role among the votes. Leo smiled and clapped, he wanted to let his teammate- _his friend_ know how proud he was of his new achievement. 

Yet deep inside, even if it made him a bad person, Leo wasn't only happy for Andrés. 

 

His eyes had been glued on Cristiano's face since they announced the name. It was a poem. Leo was afraid that if he touched the man he might caught fire. 

 

Andrés quickly made his way to the center of the stage, and took the award in his hands. During his speech he thanked Leo, said a few words about how glad he is to be playing alongside him, and he also thanked the rest of his teammates. The crowd cheered and Leo did too. Andrés bowed and turned on his heels to stand once against among Leo and Cristiano.

Turning towards Andrés, Leo threw his arms around his shoulders and pulled him into a tight embrace. "I'm so happy for you, Andrés, you deserve this," he said softly and gave him a peck on the cheel. 

As soon as Andrés got free, the press dragged Andrés to a corner to do a couple of interviews. The hosts quickly began to end the TV transmission, saying their goodbyes to the people who had attended to the ceremony and wishing good thoughts to people who were watching from home.

 

The people on the stage began to leave, some of them walked towards Andrés to hug him and congratulate him, others just headed to the backstage. Leo looked around and realised no one was really interviewing nor near Cristiano, so he turned to face him. A cheeky grin was on his face the second Cristiano's eyes met his own.

 

Leo took one step closer and leaned into Cristiano's ear, his lips almost touching his earlobe. "I won," he whispered softly so only Cristiano would hear.

"What? You didn't actually win any-"

"This isn't about the award. You know very well what I'm talking about, _Cris_ , " he said, the nickname feeling a bit alien coming from himself, yet he catched a glimpse of a Cristiano's eyes lightening a bit. "And my reward I want.... _you_." He smiled and leaned even a little bit closer. " _And not only for tonight,"_ he added before jerking away. Leo patted him on the shoulder as he did earlier.

 

As Leo walked away, he gave into the temptation to glance at Cristiano one more time. His gaze was fixed on the empty space Leo had been standing on moments ago, and if Leo could tell, a crimson colour crept from under Cristiano's collarbone. 

**Author's Note:**

> This work was edited on 2013. My writing skills were too poor back then (not that they're flawless now) but I guessed it'd do no harm to reread this and fix some mistakes.


End file.
